The Big Red knew they would have to bring their best energy to Pillsbury Field on Saturday for their Family Weekend contest with Phillips Andover.  They did just that, and despite the final result, put forth a quality effort. The first half was an even affair.  Early on Augustus Kang laid a nice ball back for Will Iller whose clean strike forced the Andover keeper to make a challenging save.  Moments later it would be SPS keeper Leo Colinet going hard to his right to keep Andover off the board.  Seb Beech served a nice corner kick for Iller to get another chance, and his header went inches over the bar. Alex de Burgh Codrington found space wide and created a chance for himself.  Defensively the Big Red played with confidence.  6^th former Theo Quan played smart and tough throughout the first half.  The backline was consistent in taking away space from the Big Blue.  Nikita Duncan and Blake Truchon controlled the width, and AJ Zoltowski and Matt Jean Baptiste impressively won balls in the air and on the ground throughout the first half.  Shout out to Baptiste, primarily a striker,  who stepped up to play in the back for the first time in his career and who did an excellent job. The half would end 0 – 0.

Andover came out quickly to open the second half and created a dangerous chance just a minute into the half getting behind the Big Red.  Colinet came up big.  It would be Jai Perry Pereira who would lift the Big Red minutes later.  Energy, speed and power allowed Jai to win the ball and start the attack on several occasions.  de Burgh Codrington created some magic on the left flank and his dangerous cross was knocked clear by the Andover defense but fell to midfielder Seb Beech whose clean strike grazed the outside of the right post.  So close.  Andover did not let up at the other end, and it would be Zoltowski who would lead the charge blocking shots and making impressive slide tackles.  Back the Big Red attack came as they played in combination better than they have in any game this year.  Hank Hayne combined with Quan, de Burgh Codrington and Bright Tweneboah to create another chance, but they could not find the back of the net.  The Big Blue then had their best chance of the game with 17 minutes to play but a brilliant breakaway save by Colinet kept the game scoreless.  Two minutes later Andover showed why it is a game of inches as the Big Blue striker created a bit of space it the top of the box and stuck a powerful ball which glance off an SPS defender and just out of the reach of a diving Colinet.  With under 15 minutes to play the Big Red gambled and pushed numbers forward.  Unfortunately, Andover took advantage of the space at the back and capitalized with another goal.  The final score would be Big Blue 3 and Big Red 0.  The scoreline does not always tell the full story of the game and while the SPS side looks forward to their three-day break from classes this long weekend, they also look forward to building from this experience when the host Lakes Region foe, Holderness School, next Wednesday.

Go Big Red!